Unless stated otherwise, Book Festival Events are free of charge and everyone is welcome – keep checking this page for event updates!

New Brunswick I Newfoundland & Labrador I Nova Scotia I Prince Edward Island

NOVA SCOTIA

Tuesday May 6

7-9pm: Book launch. Poet Brian Bartlett launches his new book, The Watchmaker's Table, at the Spring Garden Library, 5381 Spring Garden Road. A book signing will follow the reading. For more information, please phone 490 5700.

Wednesday May 7

10am: Presentation: Eric Orchard, illustrator, with A Forest for Christmas at Bedford Library

7pm: Reading: Carol Bruneau with Glass Voices at Alderney Library, Dartmouth

8pm: Book launch: Darryl Whetter with The Push and the Pull at The Granite Brewery & Ginger's (1662 Barrington Street), Halifax

Thursday May 8

Noon: Reading & Discussion: Stephanie Domet with Homing and Robbie MacGregor from Invisible Publishing.  First books – writing them and publishing them, at Spring Garden Road Library, Halifax

7pm: Reading: Harvey Sawler with Twenty-first Century Irvings at Keshen-Goodman Library, Halifax

7pm: Reading: Cape Breton celebrates Atlantic Book Festival at McConnell Memorial Library in Sydney (50 Falmouth Street) with Marq de Villiers, Beatrice MacNeil and Susan Zettell.

7pm: Book launch: Shauntay Grant and illustrator Susan Tooke with Up Home at Nelson Whynder School, 979 North Preston Road, North Preston.

Friday May 9

Am: Signing: Marq de Villiers at Cole’s, Sydney

7pm: Reading: Marq de Villiers with Witch in the Wind at Thomas More Church Hall, Pugwash

Saturday May 10

11am to 4pm: WORKSHOP SHORTS – A DAY OF BOOK FESTIVAL QUICKIES AT WFNS - CLICK here FOR DETAILS

11:30am-12:30pm: Book signing. David Adams Richards at Frog Hollow Books, Park Lane Mall, Halifax

11:30am and 1:30pm: Reading. Judith Meyrick with Gracie, The Public Gardens Duck, in the Public Gardens Horticultural Centre, as part of the official Spring opening of the Gardens, Spring Garden Road, Halifax

2pm: [THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW FULL] Workshop: The Art & Craft of Writing with David Adams Richards, at Spring Garden Road Library, Halifax (sponsored by the Writers' Trust of Canada). David Adams Richards will lead a lively discussion on the art and craft of writing and provide insights into the writerly life. Interested participants are encouraged to come with questions or concerns about their own work, as time will be devoted to helping turn the heat on projects left too long on the back burner. Registration is FREE but mandatory as space is limited! To register, please contact WFNS: talk@writers.ns.ca or 902-423-8116.

7pm: Gala Bookfest Reading at Fred with David Adams Richards, Stephanie Domet, Steven Laffoley, and Stewart Donovan - moderated by Sue Goyette. Followed by a set from The Lady and the Tramps, a new Halifax band with literary connections. 2606 Agricola St., Halifax. COST: $5.00 at the door.

8:30pm: Book launch. Anne Emery launches Barrington Street Blues, the latest book in the 'Collins-Burke' mystery series at Bearly's, 1269 Barrington Street, Halifax

Sunday, May 11

12-2pm: Book signing with David Adams Richards at Chapters, Dartmouth

2pm: Mothers' Day Magical Murder Mystery Tour. Steven Laffoley, shortlisted author of Hunting Halifax: In Search of History, Mystery and Murder, and Atlantic Book Festival invite the public to join us for a mystery tour walk on Mothers’ Day afternoon.  It’s an opportunity that will transport followers to the colour, tumult and intrigue of Halifax, circa 1853.  Shake the breakfast-in-bed crumbs from the sheets, lace up your trainers, head out into the sun (bring your umbrellas if it’s the liquid variety) and muster up at 2:00 pm on Sunday 11 May with Steven and Atlantic Book Festival at Carrefour Atlantic in the Historic Properties, 1869 Upper Water Street. 

3-5pm: Book signing with David Adams Richards at Chapters, Halifax

Monday, May 12

9am – 2pm: Halifax Grammar School hosts K.V. Johansen, Alice Walsh and Lesley Choyce (This is not a public event)

9am: Cobequid Consolidated Elementary School in Old Barns (near Truro) hosts illustrators Nancy keating, Eric Orchard and Richard Rudnicki. (This is not a public event)

4 – 6pm: Atlantic Book Awards Ceremony at Alderney Theatre, Dartmouth (Please RSVP at bookfest@writers.ns.ca)

Tuesday, May 13

10am: Reading: KV Johansen with Nightwalker at Alderney Library, Dartmouth

2pm: Reading: Don Hannah with Ragged Islands at Alderney Library, Dartmouth

7pm: Reading: Bernice Morgan with Cloud of Bone at Keshen-Goodman Library, Halifax

Thursday, May 15

7pm: Reading: Stephanie Domet with Homing at Keshen-Goodman Library, Halifax

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Saturday May 10 SHORTS – A DAY OF BOOK FESTIVAL QUICKIES AT WFNS (1113 Marginal Rd., Halifax) Cost:    Single workshop - $25 (WFNS members)/$35 (non-members)             Two workshops with a light lunch included $45 (WFNS members)/$55 (non-members) To register: contact WFNS with your workshop choices at 423-8116 or by email: talk@writers.ns.ca Writing for Screen An hour and a half with Shandi Mitchell and the VCR 11 to 12:30 What do ET, Remains of the Day, SpiderMan, Shine and Little Miss Sunshine have in common?  Can a screenplay really set up the entire world of a film in the first five minutes?  How do you say “I love you, I want you” without saying the words?  Or break a character’s heart with one line of dialogue?  Or capture the rapture and chaos of music without a sound?  Bring popcorn for this visual tour of screenwriting. Shandi Mitchell is an award winning writer/director who is always looking for that film moment that grabs the heart and makes the jaw drop in awe. Writing the Sex Scene An hour and a half with Stephens Gerard Malone 11 to 12:30 Does describing gymnastics under the sheets make your pulse race – and not in a good way?  When your hero drizzles chocolate over your heroine’s naughty bits, does it read like Ikea instructions?  Let’s face it, writing about sex is hard!  Those risqué passages you don’t want Mom to read can be an anathema to most writers.  So what’s better?  Jackie Collins or Jane Austen?  What to leave on, what to take off?  Lights on, or fade to black? Stephens Gerard Malone doesn’t claim to be an expert, but in three novels he’s covered voyeurism, sex on mountains, in abattoirs and concentration camps.  He can still blush.  Bring a sense of humour. Imaginary Playmates & Other Characters An hour and a half with Sheree Fitch 1:15 to 2:45 Do you see dead people?  Talk to yourself while walking down the street? This is a Good Thing for a writer. Some call them invisible friends, or imaginary playmates.  If you’re a writer, you get to call them characters.  This is a workshop session for adults that focuses on character:  do we find them, or do they find us?  Can we find a method to the madness once a character comes to life?  Developing character?  What exactly does that mean? What happens when a character takes up residency in your life?  Is it a character worth listening to? What makes a truly memorable character? Through a series of guided writing exercises focused on character, Sheree Fitch will encourage you to talk and write about as many imaginary playmates as can be conjured in the time available.  She’ll share tidbits about characters Cinnamon Elizabeth Hotchkiss (The Gravesavers), and Mercy Beth Fanjoy (Kiss the Joy as It Flies – forthcoming July 2008 from Vagrant).  Bring markers, glue stick, an old magazine, a scrapbook.  Also, a short passage of dialogue you think excellent. Sheree Fitch is a writer, speaker, educator who thinks the phrase “she’s a strange character” is a huge compliment. Get What You Need: The Interview An hour and a half with Philip Moscovitch 1:15 to 2:45 Nothing can bring on a case of the jitters like having to interview someone. You may only have one chance to get the information you need. This session will consider the following interviewing questions and techniques: Approaches to advance research and pre-interviews. Setting yourself and your subject at ease. Interviewing in person, on the phone or electronically. Getting the quotes you want. Deciding when a question is worth asking. The power of the simple and direct question. Creative listening and the power of silence. This workshop is designed for storytellers of all kinds who conduct interviews – journalists, documentary filmmakers or writers researching subjects for longer works. Philip Moscovitch is a freelance writer and broadcaster who has interviewed hundreds of people, including musicians, filmmakers, private eyes, activists, prisoners, and an NHL hockey legend. He loves to immerse himself in new worlds through the people he talks to. top

NEW BRUNSWICK

Wednesday May 7

7pm: Book launch: Steve Vernon with Wicked Woods at Fredericton Public Library, 12 Carleton Street

7pm: Book launch: Ken Smith with History of Disaster at Bathurst Book Gallery, 145 Main Street, Bathurst

Friday May 9

7pm: Reading: Don Domanski, George Murray and Anne Simpson, Hermenegilde Chiasson, Study Lounge - Ward Chipman Building, UNBSJ, Saint John

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NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

Thursday May 15

7pm: Book launch: Lawrence Coady with The Lost Canoe at Downhome Shoppe & Gallery, 303 Water Street, St. John’s

7pm: Reading: Marq de Villiers, Bernice Morgan, and George Murray at The Studio, 272 Water Street, St. John’s, hosted by Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland & Labrador

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

Saturday May 10

3:30pm: Reading: Don Domanski and George Murray, at Confederation Centre Library, Charlottetown. (Hosted by PEI Writers’ Guild)

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